Somerset have admitted for the first time that they are "not able to satisfy" both of their wicketkeeper/batsmen, Craig Kieswetter and Jos Buttler, following Buttler's emergence as an England regular this winter.

Buttler displaced Kieswetter from the one-day team in India and both he and the England management have said that the 22-year-old now needs to wear the gloves much more regularly for his county to hone his skills for the international game.

But Somerset have previously regarded Kieswetter as the better wicketkeeper, and with lingering international ambitions of his own the 25-year-old cannot be expected to stand aside meekly, even for a friend.

Dave Nosworthy, a South African who has succeeded the Somerset stalwart Brian Rose as the county's director of cricket, revealed at Taunton on Tuesday that he has already discussed the issue with the England team director, Andy Flower, and the one-day coach, Ashley Giles. He then spoke at length to both players this week, and said at the county's pre-season media day: "All avenues are open as to how we are going to move forward. It's a work in progress to be honest and there is no set decision as to how we are going to manage it. There are still three weeks to go until the start of the season and there are no guarantees for selection."

Nosworthy added: "[We are] not able to satisfy both, obviously, so we will have a gameplan in the next couple of weeks and we are dealing with it on a daily basis. There are no exact answers."

Buttler will almost certainly be away for most of June playing for England in a one-day series against New Zealand followed by the Champions Trophy, and there are more Twenty20 and 50-over internationals against Australia and New Zealand in August and September. The most obvious, and likely, solution would therefore be for one of the players to join another county on loan for the early stages of the season at least. There will be plenty of suitors.

Somerset's captain Marcus Trescothick said: "The team has to come first, then we have to look after both individuals, but we also respect what the ECB need and what they want, so it will take time."